John Lewis sales slow after Brexit

Department store John Lewis reported that sales slowed in the week following Brexit.

In the week following the UK voting to leave the European Union on 23 June, sales rose 2.1% year-on-year to £90.8m.

In the week before the referendum sales increased 7.3% as John Lewis started its summer sale.

John Lewis said sales at its supermarket Waitrose fell 2.8% year-on-year in the same week, and were down the 0.7% the week before Brexit.

John Lewis, part of John Lewis Partnership which also supplies online supermarket Ocado with Waitrose and John Lewis own-brands, is the only retailer that publishes weekly sales updates so it is seen as a guide to the economic state of the British high street.

However a spokesperson told Reuters that the summer clearance and cool weather affected sales and made no mention of Brexit.

"Summer clearance continued to attract customers into John Lewis shops and the cooler weather also played its part, with last week competing with 35c temperatures during the same week in 2015."

According to a survey published on the 30 June, consumer confidence fell sharply after Brexit. The YouGov/CEBR Consumer Confidence Index dropped to its lowest level since May 2013, when the British economy was starting to improve. The index fell to 104.3 between 23-27 June from 111.9 in the first three weeks of June.